Shake up with Flyers: Holmgren moving up, Hextall to be named GM

Philadelphia Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren, left, presents a bust to former Flyers goalie Ron Hextall during a Flyers Hall of Fame ceremony during the hockey game between the Flyers and Washington Capitals, Wednesday, Feb. 6,2008 in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy)

PHILADELPHIA — Ron Hextall said that when he came back to Philadelphia 10 months ago, he had no guarantee he was going to ascend into Paul Holmgren’s chair.

Paul Holmgren maintains that although he offered no previous indication of wanting to step up into different career responsibilities, it was his decision to hand his position over to Hextall.

Despite Holmgren’s discomfort with the subject when repeatedly asked about it Friday, the two old Flyers friends’ career moves became official with a Wednesday announcement.

Hextall, four days removed from his 50th birthday, became the Flyers’ new general manager, which most observers deemed pre-ordained when Holmgren wooed Hextall out of Los Angeles to come back as an assistant GM last July.

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Holmgren, 58, is the Flyers’ new president, an overseer’s position vacant since Peter Luukko was granted a sudden departure in December. Holmgren said he went to club chairman Ed Snider in January with the idea, adding that Luukko’s leaving “probably played a small part” in his engineering the move.

“I like the business side and there is more I would like to learn about the game from that side,” Holmgren said. “I also recognize that Ron is a guy that at some point we were going to lose. Someone was going to come for him and we would have lost a strong asset.”

Asked if he’d retain oversight authority on Hextall’s major decisions, Holmgren added, “Well, we all have somebody to answer to. We all have bosses. When I was general manager, if I had a big decision I had to make, I had to call Mr. Snider and talk about it. If he didn’t agree, he might ask me why I wanted to do it so bad. I don’t envision having any problems with Ron in that regard.”

So Holmgren, who took over on an interim basis in Oct. 2006 when organizational icon Bob Clarke cited burnout and stepped down, suddenly becomes a business student while saying the business of team trades, player contracts and “all hockey decisions (will) fall on Ron’s lap.

“No question,” Holmgren said. “He has full authority and autonomy.”

But can he bear the weight?

“You don’t have to sit here that long to realize what a sharp guy he is, and how he carries himself and how he cares about the organization,” Holmgren said of Hextall. “He was talking about the Flyer logo ... I think he’s got one on his (butt). He’s a smart guy. ... Today’s the right day to do it and he’s the right man to do it. I have no qualms.”

Yet it had been just five days earlier that Snider said the structure of the club’s front office was in Holmgren’s hands, then hinted he’d probably prefer Holmgren to be his president or director of hockey operations and give a promotion to Hextall. But Holmgren’s reaction to that news wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic thumbs up.

“We weren’t there to talk about that,” Holmgren explained about his reaction Friday. “We were there to talk about the team. So I just kind of brushed it aside.”

Regardless of the machinations, which for the Flyers are always a combination of guesswork and intrigue, Hextall has gone from a two-tenure goalie hero to scout to returning front office helper to what is now a position of power. He says he’s ready to lead. He just doesn’t need to slam a couple of posts with a stick to prove it anymore.

“If you can be a player you can certainly handle the pressure of this,” Hextall said. “I welcome it. I know I have a big responsibility. I’ll do everything I can to do the best job I can do. Again, I think that connection with the Flyers makes it more special. There’s nothing more I’d rather do than win a Stanley Cup in Philadelphia.”

With that, Hextall’s tenure as the seventh new face in the management chair commenced, but of course for Flyers fans, he’s been a long-time fixture.

One of the most dynamic personalities in team history, Hextall won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP to close out a fantastic rookie season of 1986-87, leading the Flyers to a seventh game of the Stanley Cup finals against an Edmonton club stocked full of Hall of Famers.

He would get them back to the conference finals under head coach Holmgren two years later, before losing to the Montreal Canadiens and jumping star defenseman Chris Chelios from behind at the conclusion of the series, a payback for a hit Chelios had put on Brian Propp. Thus, Hextall opened the 1989-90 season with a 12-game suspension hanging over his head, and perhaps exacerbated things by holding out in search of a reworked contract. It would take a while for him to work that out with Clarke, something Snider Wednesday joked he’d never forgive him for.

Maybe that experience has helped round out Hextall’s qualifications?

“Back then was a different day,” Hextall said. “You could extend contracts, rip contracts up. You could do whatever you want.”

After a 13-year playing career that included an unwanted trade to Quebec when the Flyers snagged Eric Lindros, and a stint in Long Island until Clarke traded to get him back, Hextall aspired to be an NHL general manager. He’d spend the next 15 years in Philadelphia and Los Angeles getting ready.

In a seven-year tour as assistant GM with the Kings, he was a major contributor to a Stanley Cup championship, something that has only eluded the Flyers for the past 39 years.

“It’s hard to do,” Hextall said. “If you think winning a Stanley Cup is easy, I’ve got news for you. The one thing I mentioned earlier, Philadelphia’s not sitting there waiting for No. 1 (draft) picks year after year after year. ... It’s the easy way to go and there’s no guarantees of winning a Cup then. But to maintain (a measure of success) for 25 or 30 years, which has been done here, it’s hard to do.”

That culture, Hextall said, is something with which he felt a kinship. And though he was “all in” in L.A., he said part of him always felt a need to come back in search of the chair to which he’s now been appointed.

“I got my dream job,” Hextall said. “I’ve got a special feeling about this organization and I am absolutely honored and thrilled today to be sitting here.”